Earth ChangesS


Nuke

Improvisation, Frustration Mark Japan's Nuclear Crisis at 4 Weeks- No End in Sight

people demonstrated in Tokyo
© CNNMore than 2,000 people demonstrated in Tokyo on Sunday against the use of nuclear power in Japan.
Beneath the cherry blossoms of Shiba Park, more than 2,000 people lined up for a Sunday afternoon march calling for Japan's nuclear power stations to be shut down.

A week before, a similar protest -- though in a chilly drizzle, not on a warm, sunny day -- drew about 250.

And a month of frustration, desperation and anger boiled over at Tokyo Electric Power Company's headquarters Friday as officials from towns around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant demanded to know when the crisis that has besieged their farming communities would end.

"The nuclear plant situation needs to be resolved as soon as possible. If not, we farmers will die," one of the officials, Iwao Suzuki, told the utility's executives.

But the response from Naomi Hirose, the managing director of Japan's largest utility, offered little encouragement to the delegation or the rest of the world.

Phoenix

US: Texas wildfires destroy homes, buildings

Wildfires scorched more than 230,000 acres in Texas on Sunday, roaring through a West Texas town, destroying an estimated 80 homes and buildings and critically injuring a firefighter.

The Texas Forest Service reported more than 60,000 acres burned and 40 homes lost in one blaze that raced through West Texas and into the small mountain town of Fort Davis. The fire rushed across 20 miles in 90 minutes.

Officials at the scene, however, estimated at least 100,000 acres in two counties had burned from the fire, which continued to grow Sunday evening.

"I can only describe it as an ocean of black, with a few islands of yellow," State Representative Pete Gallego said.

Snowman

US: 10 inches of snow in Flagstaff, I-17 closed

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Flagstaff resident David Ellsworth took this photo in his front yard on S. Gila Dr. at 10 am on Saturday morning.
A winter storm warning remains in effect through 5 pm as a spring snowstorm that has already dropped nearly a foot of snow in areas of Flagstaff continues to move across the region.

As of 10:30 am, the National Weather Service in Bellemont said it had so far received reports of 12 inches of snow in Grand Canyon Village, 10 to 11 inches in Flagstaff, 10 inches in Parks, 7 inches in Williams, 4.5 inches in Kachina Village and 4 inches in Doney Park. Sedona received an inch of snow all in one hour.

The Arizona Department of Transportation said that the I-17 North is closed between State Route 179 and Flagstaff because of the snow. ADOT is encouraging people to avoid driving unless necessary.

Cloud Lightning

US: Tornado causes 'major devastation' but no deaths in Iowa city

An Iowa community was shut down much of Sunday afternoon while emergency crews remained hard at work, sifting through wreckage caused by a wave of powerful tornadoes that swept across the state overnight.


The twisters caused major damage to about 60% of Mapleton, a city of about 1,200 residents, Monona County Sheriff Jeff Pratt told reporters Sunday.

It was all part of a violent storm system that struck overnight, originating in eastern Nebraska and following a warm front across northern Iowa, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Frank Boksa.

But despite causing extensive damage, it did not lead to any fatalities, said Stefanie Bond, a spokeswoman for Iowa's Homeland Security & Emergency Management Division.

Cloud Lightning

US: The nation's weather

A very large storm will move out of the Rockies and into the Plains, the most active weather system in the country Sunday. The particularly large storm will spread from the northern Plains through the central Rockies and into the upper Midwest.

While the spring storm will initially lack the moisture coming up from the Gulf of Mexico, it will begin to produce strong thunderstorms from Texas through Illinois as it moves eastward later in the day and on Monday. These thunderstorms will have the potential of turning severe, with damaging wind, hail, and even possibly tornadoes.

Residents in the Southeast should monitor weather conditions due to approaching severe weather.

Bizarro Earth

Thousands defy Philippine volcano warnings

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Manila - Thousands of people living near a volcano on an island close to the Philippine capital defied official warnings to evacuate as fears of an eruption grew.

Only 77 people living near the crater of Taal Volcano left the island, a popular visitor spot 65 kilometres (40 miles) south of Manila, over the weekend, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said on Sunday.

The island is home to 7,000 farmers, fishermen and tourist guides, according to the country's volcanology institute.

Cloud Lightning

US: Gaston, South Carolina pelted by baseball-sized hail, heavy rains

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Motorists battered by pingpong- and baseball-size hail, torrential rain and wind gusts of up to 60 mph found shelter whereever they could find it Saturday afternoon, including the Kangaroo Express gas station at I-85 and U.S. 321.

"We've had three storms come through, so I've run across a lot of scared customers," said Shaquan Hill, a clerk at the store. "It's not real safe for them to be out there right now."

Hill was telling nervous customers to stay put inside the store as the third storm began rolling through Gastonia just before 7 p.m., although not everyone was heeding her warnings.

"A lot of people just feel like they need to get where they're headed," she said.

Cloud Lightning

Eastern US: Severe thunderstorms sweep through region

Wise - A broad line of severe thunderstorms rich with heavy rains, hail, lightning and official tornado warnings thrashed the region from Northeast Tennessee through Southwest Virginia, Eastern Kentucky deep into West Virginia on Saturday, leaving fallen trees and damaged buildings in their wake.

Sweeping southeast out of the Ohio Valley through Kentucky, the line of strong storm cells fed by warm, humid air rocked across Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee from around 3 p.m. on, with tornado watches and severe thunderstorm warnings in effect through 9 p.m.

The town of Wise got belted by zero visibility rains along with an awesome display of thunder and lightning shortly before 4 p.m., but it was the city of Norton just to the southwest of Wise that bore the brunt of the storm's wrath.

Bizarro Earth

Landslide kills 2 children in Turkey

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A landslide caused by heavy rains killed two children trapped under the wreckage of their collapsed home, while the other four family members suffered injuries, in Erzurum on Sunday morning, Turkish Cihan news agency said.

Due to heavy rainfall in the eastern province, a landslide knocked over one wall of the family's mud-brick house, causing it to collapse. Two children died. The remaining four family members were rescued by provincial civil protection and search-and-rescue teams and taken to the local hospital for treatment.

Nuke

Hong Kong: Another Radioactive Substance Found in HK Air

Another radioactive substance has been detected in the air, but the Hong Kong Observatory sees the amount as too small to pose a health hazard.

It is the first time the highly toxic radioisotope cesium-137 has been found since the earthquake and tsunami in Japan on March 11 crippled the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex.

The observatory said yesterday that a "very minute amount" of cesium-137 was detected at King's Park during a 24-hour period ending Saturday.

The concentration was 0.000067 becquerels per cubic meter, only 1/37-millionth of the level that requires protective action. The danger level is 2,480 becquerels per cubic meter, according to the observatory.

Tiny traces of radioactive iodine- 131 were also found - the 10th time in two weeks - with the level at 0.000187 becquerels per cubic meter.